Category Archives: Folk speech

Tutti i nodi vengono al pettine

Nationality: Italian
Age: 57
Occupation: Teacher
Residence: Bologna
Performance Date: 04/13/2021
Primary Language: Italian

Main piece:

“Tutti i nodi vengono al pettine”

Transliteration: 

Tutti: All

i nodi: knots

vengono: come

al pettine: to the comb

Translation: All the knots come to the comb, meaning that the truth will always come out in the end and that all the bad actions or lies one commits or tells will eventually be unmasked and punished.

Background:

My informant is a 57 years old woman, born in Bologna from Italian parents. She has been told this words since she was a child and they made up much of her upbringing and education, which both had a particular emphasis on the importance of caring for the other and treating him or her as “you would treat yourself”.

Context:

My informant -my mother- has always repeated these words to me since I was really young, and when I asked her if she had some proverbs she wanted to tell me for tis collection project, she immediately brought this one up. We were having breakfast in the informant’s house.

Thoughts:

This proverb wants to be both a teaching and a warning, a philosophical approach to the evil received and, at the same time, an educational indication that should be respected.

On on side, indeed, the proverb serves as a sort of eschatological or, better, karmic ‘prophecy’ for actions committed. I often received this proverb as a reassurance when lamenting for injustices or wrongdoings received, so as to say that those who act badly or give negative energies to others will, in the end, receive their share of punishment. 

On the other hand, this saying also serves as an advice, which basically invites you to always think twice before doing something, especially if this something involves other people as well. 

Even if my general interpretation and understanding of this proverb was mostly related to what I have just explained, as my informant pointed out, the proverb can also be interpreted with a meaning related to truth: no matter how many lies are told or how many obstacle will be placed in its course, truth will always find its way to be revealed. 

I believe this proverb to be quite representative of Italian values and principles, which have been, in time, greatly influenced by Catholicism and Christian doctrine. As a matter of fact, this proverb encompasses both the care one should have towards the other and, simultaneously, the conception of Final Judgment, which are two of the main pillars of the Roman Church.

Apelle figlio di Apollo

Nationality: Italian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Bologna, Italy
Performance Date: 04/26/2021
Primary Language: Italian
Language: English

Main piece:

“Apelle figlio di Apollo fece una palla di pelle di pollo tutti i pesci vennero a galla per mangiare la palla di pelle di pollo fatta da Apelle figlio di Apollo”

Transliteration: 
Apelle son of Apollo made a ball of chicken’s skin. All the fishes came to the surface to eat the ball of chicken’s skin made by Apelle son of Apollo

[there is no real translation as also in Italian there isn’t a deeper sense expressed by the words, which have, as main purpose, the one of being musically rhythmic and twist your tongue]

Background:

L.L.: I remember when I was at school and there were literally contests between children [laughs]. Like during the break we would meet in the corridors and challenge each other on who was the best at performing tongue-twisters. And like, if you were faster or better at telling them, you would feel superior…you would feel super smart. Oh and, not to mention when you learnt a new one that your classmates didn’t know and so you got to teach them. That was a real satisfaction [laughs]

Context:

My informant performed this tongue-twister over a dinner, in which other friends were present, and, after the performance of the piece, we all started to practice other tongue-twister we learnt when younger

Thoughts:

Tongue-twisters surely are a fundamental piece of folk-speech, which is performed by children as well as adults. Usually they are learnt in young years of age, when, as my informant explains, they represent a sort of ‘exposition of intelligence’. 

In the case of Apelle figlio di Apollo, in fact, Italian kids would battle each other on who was the best at telling it, and, consequently, he or she would gain a feeling of supremacy on the other peers. 

Tongue-twisters as well are, therefore, definable as one of the many forms of rite of passage children use both to approach adulthood and to gain some sort of power inside of their social group. 

Ummarell

Nationality: Italian
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Residence: Bologna
Performance Date: 04/23/2021
Primary Language: Italian

Main piece:

Ummarell

Transliteration in Italian: omarello, omino, ometto

Transliteration in English: little man

Translation: old man who is retired 

M.P.: This is a typical Bolognese expression, which indicates those old men who are like retired and spend their time looking at construction sites. In the common imaginary they are portrayed in their typical pose, with crossed hands behind their backs.

[gets up laughing and mimics the physical pose]

And yes, this word actually entered the slang of the city because it is sometimes used also as a…a sort of joking insult. Like if someone…I don’t know…If someone acts like an old man, or stops in front of building sites, or repeatedly walks with his hand crossed behind his back, friends will make fun of him saying things like “Do not act like an ummarell”. 

Background:

My informant is a 23 years old girl who was born in Bologna, Italy, and who is now getting her master degree in archaeology and Egyptology at the city’s university, and who got her bachelor degree in anthropology and oriental studies 2 years ago always at Bologna’s Alma Mater Studiorum. She does’t recall the exact place and time in which she learnt this word, and neither she remember the first source from which she heard this term, she just knows it is a fundamental part of her “folk-culture”, as she herself defined it.

Context:

I myself use a lot this word and my informant mentioned this piece while we were chatting at a restaurant in the city center of Bologna.

Thoughts:

Something I have always found quite intriguing is the great amount of dialects present in the Italian peninsula. Every region has its own peculiar and proper dialectal speech, and while in some places, especially small towns, they are still spoken -particularly by the older generations-, in bigger cities, dialects have been transformed into slang and adapted to the official language, that is, Italian. In fact, every main city of every Italian region -there are 20 regions in Italy- has words that are typical to that city -or the surrounding area- only. In the majority of cases, these words are not used or even understood by people who do not belong to that community. 

Furthermore, these words tend to evolve from generation to generation, so it happens that only peer groups understand what is being said or meant through that term. 

In these ways, they can be said to perfectly reflect folklore’s definition of “multiplicity and variation”.

Ummarell, precisely, is one of these folk-terms as, deriving from the Emilian dialect, it’s used by people inside the colloquial lingo to represent not only the old retired men who stop at every building site they encounter -as the original meaning implies-, but also all those people who act in this way. 

It becomes an informal way of making fun of a person who act as an old man, or that has the same behavior of old retired man. In this way, a sort of generational division is created, as the youth makes fun of peers pejoratively associating it with the elderly. 

Additionally, it is also used to indicate those who are nosy and who, not having much to do in their spare-time, do useless stuff like watching construction sites and giving unrequested advices to the ones who are working.

La bella lavanderina

Nationality: Italian
Age: 57
Occupation: Teacher
Residence: Bologna
Performance Date: 04/13/2021
Primary Language: Italian

Main piece:

“La bella lavanderina che lava i fazzoletti

Per i poveretti della città.

Fai un salto, fanne un altro,

Fai la giravolta, falla un’altra volta.

Guarda in su, guarda in giù

Dai un bacio a chi vuoi tu”

Transliteration: 
The beautiful washerwoman who washes the handkerchiefs for the needy of the city. Jump, jump another time, do the twirl, do it again. Look up, look down, give a kiss to whoever you want. 

[the transliteration comprehends the translation as well, as there is not a deeper meaning that goes beyond the words themselves]

Background:

S.C.: This was a nursery rhyme that I learnt when I was very young and that I sang both at home and at school to..well, first of all to understand that there were people more needy than me that could and should be helped and, also to transform a topic, which for a child can be quite unknown, into something happier and more easily approachable. Children would associate a serious issue to a form of gameplay, to a moment of carefreeness.

V.S.: Where did you learn it?

S.C.: I think my mum thought me it, but then I used to sing it with my friends at school..a bit everywhere…everyone knew it. To be happy and do something together, this rhyme was always performed 

Context:

I myself knew this rhyme since really young, and we were in the informants’s house when she mentioned and performed this.  

Thoughts:

As my informant pointed out, this is a piece taken from what would be defined as children’s folklore and which has been passed down from generation to generation; as a matter of fact, my grandmother used to do it, and so does my cousin’s son who is now three. Despite the first impression the lyrics or the performance could give, this practice done’t involve a particular gender, but it is, instead, carried out both by male and female kids. This is not particularly unexpected, as the majority of gender-based games and plays usually start to be performed when infants are 6 or 7 years old, while this little kinesthetic song is typically learnt and ‘enacted’ some years before. I use the term kinesthetic as this nursery rhyme is most of the times performed with a dance, which basically consist in following and doing what the lyrics of the song tells. So when it says jump, children jump; when it says do the twirl, children do it, and so on until the end of the song, in which each child chooses who to give the kiss. In this way, another interesting aspect is brought to light, which is the young approach of children to the world of adults. Even if indirect and unconscious, the kiss represents a turning point, a means for approaching the other sex since a really young age. 

However, this isn’t the only grown-up thematic children are put in contact with: as my informant highlighted, indeed, children are also introduced -in a joyous and playful manner- to more serious and relevant topics, like poverty, altruism and philanthropy. 

Szekely and Hungarian Proverbs

Nationality: Romanian, Hungarian
Age: 47
Residence: Oxford, Connecticut
Performance Date: 04/25/2021
Primary Language: Hungarian
Language: English; French; Romanian

Main Text: 

Szekely & Hungarian Proverbs

Background on Informant: 

My informant is originally from Romania, specifically the Transylvania region that is intermixed with Romanian and Hungarian roots. They came to the United States at 24 and have been here since. They are very knowledgable with the cultural context of Romania and Hungary, having grown up in Szekely tradition (a subgroup of Hungarian people living in Romania). They have graciously shared with me parts of their folklore and heritage. 

Context: 

They explain:

“You know a lot of these phrases stem from long traditions of proverbs and jokes, and I can remember as far back as my great-grandparents using these, but obviously many have evolved since then. 

A few I remember are: 

Sok lúd disznót győz. 

A rough translation would be like ‘A lot of geese can fight a pig’. It means that if someone is fighting against another person, if a lot of weaker people team up together they can take down the strongest opponent — hence a pack of geese against a pig is stronger than a single goose standing against a pig. 

My grandfather would tell me this a lot, he always had a fighting spirit. I guess in an American version it would like— united we stand something along those lines. 

Another one is

Itt van a kutya elásva

It kind of means ‘this is where the dog is buried’. We have this superstitious belief in our culture where if someone trips, it means that where they tripped is where a dog under the spell of the devil is buried. They also say that it might also have precious gems buried along with it. 

My mother would use it in a sort of more modern sense, to represent telling the truth, especially when we were younger to warn us about lying. 

Elszaladt vele a ló. 

This means ‘the horse ran away with him,’ it kind of means when people get carried away, it can be in pride or success — anything getting too much into someone’s head. The symbolism is that a good rider can control his/her horse but if they lose control they get the consequences.”

Analysis/Thoughts:

Listening and learning about these phrases allowed me to get some insight into Szekely ‘wisdom’ and expressions. I had never heard of these but even with the context they are very reminiscent of expressions I have heard in my own life. A lot of the phrases are attributed in a cultural context to the typical historical past of Hungary/Romania as a lot of them are associated with farm animals like horses and pigs that are very typical of the ancestral past and even in today’s traditions. 

I like how they all offer different insight into situations and how they evolved over time. I also like how they have been phrases that the person has experienced first hand themselves on several occasions and it was enjoyable to learn about. Overall, it was interesting to observe the cultural context of these proverbs and sayings and connecting them to the ones that I grew up listening to and observing how each culture has the same wisdom just said and established differently. 

Annotations: 

For more examples visit: 

https://dailynewshungary.com/famous-hungarian-quotes-vol-1/